The invention relates to a multi-compartment tray suitable for bearing foods and drinks.
The prior art embraces multi-compartment trays which are used for serving various types of foods making up a single meal, for example a main course with vegetables and a drink in a cup. Generally this type of tray is used in bars, diners and fast food outlets or the like, especially where a self-service system exists, and is used at least for carrying the food from a serving line to a table. Normally, for the above purpose flat disposable trays are used, provided with dividers on their upper face which can be used for containing food either directly or indirectly, that is having further single plastic or paper food containers perched on them with no special hand-gripping means provided: indeed, only in very few cases do these trays provide lateral handles for holding the tray during transport. The invention described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,343,428 does actually exhibit handles, though not compartments or dividers. In all cases the drinks container is simply rested on the plane of the tray or, as in the case of trays used in aircraft, a shallow recess is provided which has the sole aim of limiting transversal movements of the container itself due to the movements of the aircraft.
In other cases attachments are envisaged, applicable to specific supports such as automobile windows or doors, as used in drive-in cinemas. These trays present drawbacks whenever it becomes necessary to eat while standing, or while sitting but without a table to rest the tray on, as can happen when, for example, a fast-food outlet is crowded, or when snacks are bought at a cinema or in a sports stadium. In the above cases, a traditional tray is very awkward or downright impossible to handle, the only grips (if any) for the tray being lateral and on the same plane as the tray upper surface, thus not offering an adequate positioning of the hand to balance the tray and its contents. Also, when transporting the tray in one hand together with a drink held in the other, balancing the tray becomes a significant problem once more.
The principal aim of the present invention is to obviate the above-mentioned drawbacks by providing a multi-compartment tray exhibiting a support plane equipped with a plurality of compartments, of which one extends below the support and containment plane, constituting a gripping element for the tray and at the same time providing a suitable seating to receive a drink container.